Notes - February 7, 2018

Q: What do you get when you cross a hurdy gurdy with an organ?

A: An unlikely series of Haydn masterpieces.

Haydn was no stranger to obscure musical instruments, having composed many works for his patron, Prince Nikolaus Esterházy I, to play on the baryton, which had two sets of strings – one for bowing, the other for plucking.

Ferdinand IV

Starting in 1786, Ferdinand IV, King of Naples, commissioned a series of works for his favorite obscure instrument, the lira organizzata – essentially a hurdy gurdy outfitted with organ pipes – which may have been conceived with the saying “Idle hands are the devil's playthings” in mind: one hand turned a crank, the other played a keyboard.

Technical limitations meant the instrument could only play music written in the keys of C, F or G. Despite this restriction, Haydn – at the height of his creative powers – composed some of his best music for a series of concerti (with orchestra) and notturni (with chamber ensemble) for two lire for the King to perform with his teacher.

Knowing a good thing when he wrote one, Haydn retained copies of the concerti and notturni. When he needed extra music for his first London sojourn in 1791, he re-orchestrated them, assigning the lire parts to flute and oboe, or two flutes; it is these versions that generally are performed today.

“Since God has given me a cheerful heart, He will forgive me for serving Him cheerfully.”

–Joseph Haydn

Venue -

First Church of Christ, Scientist– Central Park West at 68th
Street

Near Lincoln Center, the First Church of Christ, Scientist faces Central Park at 68th St. and is reached via the M72, M10 and Columbus Ave. M7 & M11 bus lines; subways C to 72nd at Central Park West (70th St. exit) & #1 to 66th at Broadway. Parking garages are available along W. 68th and W. 66th Streets. For information regarding disability access call 212-280-0330.For a listing of restaurants near West 68th Street in Lincoln Square, click here.

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SPRING 2018

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HAYDN IN ESTERHÁZY Genial Kapellmeister

Saturday, March 3rd
at 7:30 pm

First Church of Christ, Scientist

Central Park West at 68th Street

Maestro Renz devotes an entire evening to a single composer: the beloved and endlessly inventive “Papa” Haydn. With his unique combination of genius and geniality, Haydn developed some of the freshest, most original classical symphonies of his time, from the stormy to the sublime, while in service at the remote Esterházy estate in Hungary.

PROGRAM

(subject to change)

JOSEPH HAYDN (1732-1809)

Symphony No. 34 in d minor (H.I:34), ca. 1766

Notturno No. 27 in G (H.II:27), 1788-90, rev. 1792

L’isola disabitata: Overture (H.Ia:13), 1779

Symphony No. 63 in C, “Roxelane”

(H.I:63, version 2), 1779

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MONTEVERDI ECHOES Venice to Vienna

Saturday, May 5th
at 7:30 pm

First Church of Christ, Scientist

Central Park West at 68th StreetThe ‘new’ Italian style of Claudio Monteverdi and his contemporaries, blossoming at the turn of the 17th century, quickly made its way across the Alps, as Italians were engaged by Austrian and German courts. In addition to Monteverdi, composers will include Heinrich Ignaz von Biber,whose Battalia has been an audience favorite for almost 350 years, and Carlo Farina, whose Capriccio stravagante features a veritable carnival of the animals.

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